Twisted Steel
by Khaleesi Khupcakes
Summary: The elevator cable snaps, Magenta is alone, Brad arrives at the castle and soon discovers that she's hurt more on the inside than surface scars can reveal.
1. Chapter 1

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. Will be a few chapters long, the discovery, Brad's reaction and eventually rehab. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13 and QueenCynder. And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Magenta's POV.<p>

Everything that I can feel just hurts so much. There's so much blood everywhere. And broken glass. I'm dying. Dying would be much better than just being here.

Third Person.

Magenta was laying in a pile of twisted steel and broken glass. She had been in the elevator. The cable had snapped and the lift had dropped a few floors from the lab. She was lying on top of a bed of glass, nails and what-the-fuck else and underneath a heap of shattered metal. Tears burned at her eyes, she whispered words of forced encouragement to herself as she attempted to weakly sit up under the pile of debris.

Magenta's POV.

I can't feel anything past my waist and how the hell am I supposed to know if my leg is still securely attached. Everyone else is in the lab. I came down the get something and the elevator cable gave out on the top floor. I can hear people shouting and running around upstairs. But there's blood in my ears so I can't really be that sure. Why was it me? Did it have to? Have I done something wrong? I don't know what I did...

* * *

><p>Brad's POV.<p>

I pull up outside the castle. I can't help it. The place has an absolutely _astounding_ amount of windows! I like to look out windows...

Third Person.

When Brad got into the foyer, he saw a smoking mass of elevator shaft and twisted steel. He walked over and began to dig through the rubble out of curiosity until he found something he didn't expect to find in a pile of metal and glass. A human hand with red nails.

"Good God, that Frank's a nutbar..." Brad began to dig deeper until he saw a white face covered in ashes and blood. The face was almost unrecognizable under it's covering of what looked like a horrible infection waiting to happen. The eyes opened, a pale green colour that stuck out from under the black and red.

"Please... don't judge me right now." the person whispered. It was a woman's voice with an accent that made Brad get hornier than the wind section of an orchestra. Brad dug deeper until he could drag the person out by her arm, revealing a killer body and a maid's outfit.

"Magenta? What happened?"

"I don't really think it's your problem, Don't you have someplace you have to be?"

"No, not really." Brad began to pull Magenta further out of the pile but she yanked her arm away,

"Vill you get the fuck off of me?"

"I was trying to help."

"No you veren't. You vere trying to molest me."

"I'm sorry if you just happen to be super-hot and like, totally available."

"I'll have you know I'm taken."

"By your brother?"

"Maybe. He vas my first love."

"'Cause were you come from, nobody wants to tap- mmm- that..."

"Incest vorks."

"Inbred children? Isolation from your family?"

"You shut your mouth." Brad carried Magenta to the stairs and up to her room.

"Vhy the hell do you know vhere my room is?"

"I stayed in here for a few hours while you were sleeping last night."

"VHAT?"

"Columbia lets me in, provided I clean out the fridge."

"Is that vhy almost everything I buy mysteriously disappears vithin two veeks at this damn shitbox."

"You're really sexy when you're pissed- WHOAH MY GOD, OKAY, DON'T MOVE!"

"Vhat is it?"

"Just-" Brad moved down Magenta's leg, she felt an obnoxious feeling in her back,

"Vhat's wrong?"

"You had a piece of glass."

"Vhere?"

"There was a piece of glass in a cut you had on your back. Your dress is all ripped up."

"It's not like it vas expensive..."

"You're cute."

"I don't care." Magenta began to stand up but fell back, Brad caught her,

"You broke a bunch of stuff. Don't move."

"Don't try to force your opinions down my throat."

Brad pulled a deep fried cookie out of his pocket and bit into it, Magenta shuddered and covered her eyes,

"Get that nasty shit out of your mouth."

"Bu' i' fo gud!" Brad said with his mouth full,

"It's good if you vant a heart attack vithin the next year."

"You're, like, sufficiently turning me on right now."

"Suck a dick."

"But you don't have-"

"GOOD GOD! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Magenta smacked her hands over her ears, "You know vhat, you're disgusting."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

* * *

><p>Brad stayed overnight. At about midnight, he woke Magenta up and sat on her bed,<p>

"Vhat is it? The iPad vas playing basketball..."

"I can't sleep..."

"You're like a little baby..."

"Seriously!"

"Vhat am I supposed to do about it?" The room was silent until Brad finally said,

"Truth or Dare."

"I haven't played that game since I vas in middle school."

"I'll start, Truth or Dare."

"Vhichever."

"Okay, truth, um, are you a virgin?"

"Shut up."

"Okay, your turn!"

"Truth. Do I turn you on?"

"...uh...yes...OKAY PICK ONE!"

"Truth again."

"Why do you talk like that?"

"Vhat?"

"Like you just did, say _watermelon_."

"Vatermelon."

"LIKE THAT!" Brad screeched, pointing and rustling the sheets, "Why do you have that weird accent, does everyone talk like that where you're from?"

"No, but-"

"Then why do you?"

"I'm not answering that q-vestion." Brad slapped a hand over his mouth,

"YOU DID IT AGAIN!"

"You can go now."

"Not until you answer."

"It's none of your business."

"Just out of curiosity." Magenta was quiet before finally saying,

"Fine. I have a speech impediment."

"A what?"

"I'm not repeating anything."

"Did you say speech impediment."

"Maybe."

"That's another word for yes."

"No it isn't!"

"Is too."

"Am I really getting into this with you?"

"Getting into what?"

"Kiss my ass."

"My pleasure. Do you really have a speech impediment." Brad noticed the tears that were starting to form and slid off the bed, "I'm sorry. I'm a jack-ass." Magenta covered her head and turned the light off. After a few minutes of hushed sobbing, Brad heard her say,

"Brad, truth or dare."

"Truth."

"Do you vant to sleep with me tonight?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. Will be a few chapters long, the discovery, Brad's reaction and eventually rehab. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13 and QueenCynder. And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad woke up covered in blood. He had slept with Magenta the previous night and she had flatly avoided his attempts to tape her up.

"Oh shit, my V- wait, I lost it... Screw that stupid high school celibacy club, celibacy my ass, Janet got a touch carried away that day, I should've known, there ain't no such thing as a stamp convention, unless it's in Janet's sister's closet and those stamps are Janet's many hickies..." He whined. She was still asleep, Brad felt himself getting hard as he stroked her red curls out of her face. There was blood on her face from the accident. Everyone else was still in the lab living on frozen pizza and popcorn. Brad wondered how long it would take for them to put two and two together and exit through the wheelchair hole in the wall. Magenta opened her bruised and still teary eyes,

"You voke up already?"

"Yeah, I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Why did you react the way you did last night when I asked about your speech impediment?" Magenta inhaled and began,

"Vell, when my mother vas pregnant vith me, she vas still smoking."

"Oh, God..."

"Anyvay, I had a febrile seizure vhen I vas three months old, and that's pretty much vhat caused it."

"That's absolutely horrible."

"No, that's okay, I'm fine now."

"Magenta?"

"Yes?"

"Would you kill me if I said I loved you right now?"

"No, but I don't think you vould."

"I would... You're really beautiful."

"Aren't you vith Janet?"

"We broke up last week."

"Vhy?"

"I was in love with someone else."

"Really, who?" Brad gently touched Magenta's shoulder and she shuddered as he touched a deep gash on her arm,

"We just did it. Does that give you a hint?" Magenta stared, wide-eyed until Brad began to sweat, "Please don't vomit on me... And if you're gonna beat me up, try to avoid my glasses, I don't need a zillion cuts all over my face..." Brad cringed and braced himself,

"I'm not going to kill you."

"Don't sugarcoat it. Just do it, I'm not a virgin anyway, I'm impure... HIT ME!" Brad flailed off the edge of the bed and hit his head on the hardwood floor. "Ouch. I know you might not care, but I am in an extraordinarily large amount of pain, I am going to stand up now, if I am bleeding, please press something against the potential gash in my forehead, preferably your pelvis-"

"SCREW YOURSELF! NOW I'M ABOUT TO HIT YOU!" Magenta slapped Brad upside the head as he was standing up,

"That's better... Are you hungry, I'll make something!" Without warning Brad picked Magenta up and carried her down a few flights of stairs.

"DON'T DROP ME!"

"It's fine, now what the hell do you have in the fridge here?"

"Seeing as you ate most of it, ve don't have anything that isn't either rotten or invisible."

"Invisible food? Cool!"

"I don't think you ever matured past the age of 9."

"I didn't! I hit my growth spurt at a young-ass age! I've been growing like a nut since I was six."

"I've been PMSing since I vas 12."

"So I can knock you up!"

"Don't get any ideas."

"I could seriously start stripping you right now, I'm just gonna go for it."

"If you vant me to break your nuts."

"Sorry."


	3. Chapter 3

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad and Magenta sat across the kitchen table from each other in silence. Another tear fell from Magenta's right eye and ran down her face and neck before sexily running down her dress. Brad reached across the table and dried the tear that followed, then stood up and stood next to where Magenta was sitting. She leaned her head on his waist. All Brad had asked was what Transsexual was like.

"What's wrong?"

"I just-" Magenta was silenced as Brad lifted her up and carried her back up the stairs,

"Don't say anything." Brad lay her on her bed and lay next to her. Magenta's still green eyes stared blankly, illuminated with tears. "What's wrong?"

"You'd have to have been to Transsexual."

"I think I can handle it."

"All I'm going to say is that it's nicer here."

"How do you mean?" Magenta was quiet until Brad held her hand tighter,

"Vhen I lived there, vhere I lived, it vasn't exactly unusual for children to be molested. On a daily basis."

"I'm so sorry."

"It couldn't be avoided. I'm glad I never ended up going back."

"Did your parents molest you?"

"Of course not."

"Is it a lot different from Earth."

"No. Not at all, same idea." An inexplicable silence filled the room. Magenta sat up, followed by Brad as he wrapped an arm around her waist. She lay back down next to him, within a few seconds, she was asleep.

Brad stared down at her, she was indescribably beautiful, her dark red hair against her chalky complexion was absolutely stunning when paired with her dark lips, her exquisite body would be perfect if she didn't have so many injuries. Her still, viridescent, heartbroken eyes that always seemed to be glazed with either tears or pain or longing, and her beautiful accent, even her speech impediment was sexy. Still, she was fragile, breakable, and she needed someone who wouldn't hurt her, she needed desperately to be loved.


	4. Chapter 4

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad was smiling. Magenta probably thought he was an absolute nut. Did he care? NO! He was a successful little bitch, and that was how he felt as he and Magenta checked into their hotel room. He had decided to take her to a hospital, she would be starting rehab the next morning, and while he was in Denton, he had made reservations at the only real hotel, the Hilton, in his hometown. Even in the elevator, while Magenta's eyes darted nervously around the space, Brad was smiling.

Brad and Magenta began to unpack, as Brad was digging through his bag, his hand brushed the box, Brad smiled.

...

"I still don't understand vhy you got a table for four if it's just the two of us." Magenta said from across the table in the hotel restaurant,

"You see why soon." Brad replied, staring across the restaurant for some sign of Magenta's parents. He had found their phone number in her room. Arden and Cassius Alvarado. Two of possibly the most intimidating names Brad had ever heard, for whatever reason, they freaked him out. That's when he saw them, a tall, blonde woman in a black dress and an even taller man with black hair, one blue eye and one dark green.

"Vhat're you staring at?" Magenta turned around in her chair and snapped around again, "Fuck."

"What is it?"

"You invited my parents?"

"I thought you'd like that. Are you ashamed of me?"

"God no, I'm ashamed of them. They aren't normal."

"Whose parents are?" Arden and Cassius drew closer, finally Arden hugged Magenta from behind,

"MY VONDERFUL LITTLE GIRL! Get it? Wonderful? EE! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" Cassius sat down on one side of the table,

"You must be Brad."

"Yes, I'm Brad Majors."

"Nice to finally meet you. Genta, my little slugger! How are you? You have breasts! How the hell did you get all those hideous cuts? They could get infected! We don't want your diction getting any _vorse._" Arden smiled,

"Yes, our little girl has a little problem." Arden sat down across from Cassius, "But she's just so cute! The rest of the family would agree."

"Rest?"

"Well, me and my little Cassius here, how do we put this so as not to pollute your young minds, we, uh, well, we, we like to breed. We have eight children including Genta here."

"I thought you only had two."

"Oh, please, Genta would be our most recent. Before she came along, well, first came Tafatia, then Idina, then Dominic, and then Paris, Delia, Aidan, Rayne, and well, that's all. Our Delia just started a family, and Rayne is busy with that Janet girl, what a little skank..."

"But, we have to say, Genta is probably our most unique." said Cassius, Arden reached over and pinched Magenta's cheek until it turned red, "She's the only person in our family with red hair. Or curly for that matter, could be a side-effect of her V-disease."

"V-disease?"

"Cassius, she's right here, aren't you, Gennie?" Arden went back to doting as Cassius explained 'V-disease'.

"Basically, Brad, 'V-disease' is pretty much the reason why you can almost never understand what Magenta's saying, all because ARDEN doesn't know how to give up a damn ADDICTION!"

"I CAN'T HELP IT!"

"Haven't you ever considered speech therapy?"

"We did for a while, but Genta's little retardation just adds so much cuteness." Brad could see Magenta looking down and clawing her nails into the table,

"Uh oh," Arden hummed in her sing-song-mother voice, "I think Genta's scratching again!"

"She used to do it all the time. Up until she was 12, just gouging holes in everything, I tried taping her arms down, but she scratched a hole in her skirt..."

"At least that was the year she slept alone for the first time. Sure, she passes out just fine when she's with someone else, but on her own, she'll be up all night, won't you, ginger-snap?" Brad started to heat up, finally letting it go,

"Has anyone ever brought up the fact that you're awful parents?"

"I beg your pardon-"

"If Magenta and I are ever blessed enough to have a child, and that child has a speech impediment, I think we'd do well to not rub it in their face, and it I was bothered so much by it, I would at least get them some help. In fact there's something I want you to see." Brad dug in his pocket and grabbed the box, eventually holding it out to Magenta and opening it, inside was the ring he had originally given to Janet,

"Oh, God, Brad-"

"I love you more than anyone, Magenta, you're the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with, so can I?" Magenta nodded and slowly put the ring on her right hand, Arden stood up,

"FINE! BREED DEFECTIVE CHILDREN! BREED US DEFECTIVE GRANDCHILDREN! UNLESS THAT WOULD MAKE US UNFIT GRANDPARENTS, CASSIUS!" Arden and Cassius left without another word.

* * *

><p>Magenta didn't say a word for the majority of the night. Once Brad brought her back to the hotel room she disappeared, he found her an hour later sitting on the bed, Brad sat next to her,<p>

"Are you okay?" She shook her head, "Was this why you didn't want me to meet your parents?"

"They don't vant me." Brad pulled her closer,

"I do." Magenta's nails began to dig into her arms, Brad held her hands until she stopped, a little of her hair fell into her face, Brad thought it was beautiful.

...

The next morning, Brad found Magenta leaning over him,

"Is it really that hard to understand me?" she whispered, "My parents have never been so cruel." Brad sat up and gently embraced her,

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't stand up for you sooner." Magenta's eyes began to close, Brad smiled as she fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person. December 19th<p>

The next day, Magenta was starting rehab. Brad was, for the moment, waiting outside the room she had been taken into, not bothering to look into the window. He knew she was in hell. He knew she didn't like to be touched. He knew she was hating him inside. He wanted to get her out. The door swung open and a small, sweet looking nurse brought Magenta out,

"Are you Brad?" she asked, Brad nodded, "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Magenta." Brad took Magenta's hand and walked away down the hall.

"How was it?" He asked after a few minutes, "You look... a little pale."

"I have a naturally light complexion. It runs in my family." Magenta stayed quiet for a few seconds, "I mean, it ended up more like a therapy session, she asked me a whole bunch of qvestions, like vhether or not I had a phobia of elevators, vhich I don't, and then she asked if I vas in a relationship, vith you, and then if I vas allegic to anything for vhatever reason."

"Are you allergic to anything?"

"Dogs, dust, and penicilllin."

"I find that adorable." Magenta and Brad got into the car, Magenta glanced around the car,

"Vhat's that smell?" Brad looked around, and the awful truth slowly dawned on him. He reached under the driver's seat and pulled out a dishevelled-looking sub.

"Sorry... I haven't cleaned up in here for a while..."

"Vell, I guess it's okay to be a slob, just as long as nothing attacks me in here." Magenta leaned over and lay her head on Brad's shoulder, he gently kissed her and started the car.

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><p>Brad and Magenta got back to their hotel room, it was snowing. Magenta began to take off her sweater and sat down in Brad's lap, her bare arms brushed against his shirt, Brad held her around her waist,<p>

"I love you." she whispered, he tightened his grip,

"I love you, too, I always will." Magenta leaned forward and looked into Brad's eyes,

"Ve're still engaged, right?"

"Of course we are, let's call my parents." Brad got his phone from the bedside table and dialed his parents' phone number. His mother answered, he put the phone on speaker, his mother answered,

"Hello? Brad? I just got this caller ID, it's amazing, I can see your name right on the little screen..."

"Yeah, ma, that's great, listen, I'm getting married."

"Excuse me? With whom, exactly?"

"My new girlfriend, Magenta."

"I don't think I know this girl."

"Yeah, about that, I was going to bring her to meet you and dad."

* * *

><p>Brad and Magenta pulled up outside Brad's parents' house to find them waiting on the porch. A few hours into dinner, Brad's mother, Suzanne, broke the silence,<p>

"So, Brad, do you need a place to stay?"

"We're staying in a hotel room."

"Because I wouldn't mind having you kids house-sit for us while we're in Florida."

"Ma, we have a hotel room."

"Then check out! Come live here!"

...

2 hours later, Brad was just going upstairs, he and Magenta had checked out of the Hilton and moved into the Majors home, Magenta was already asleep and Brad was just coming upstairs to ask his parents what they thought of her, he soon got his answer as they were packing their bags,

"I think she's a lovely girl, Will."

"You don't get it, Sue, did you see the way she's built?"

"Were you checking her out?"

"No, but did you see her waistline? How the hell is a girl like that supposed to have babies?" Brad opened the door to his parent's room,

"I see you're not satisfied with my taste in women." Suzanne immediately began to talk,

"We just think Maria-"

"Magenta."

"Whatever, we think that you have a wide variety of choices and I think this may be a little bit of a hasty decision, I mean, she doesn't have a house of her own, she doesn't have a stable career, and I hate to say it, but she's a bit of a slut." Brad left before she could finish. When he reached the guest room, Magenta was still barely awake,

"How'd it go?" Brad lay next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist,

"Fine." he lied, not caring what his parents thought. She was all his. And they were engaged, it was all Brad needed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad and Magenta lay in the tepid bathwater together, Magenta's head resting on Brad's shoulder, he still didn't know she was sleeping. Brad ran a hand down her back,

"You're so beautiful." he whispered, "I love you so much." Magenta shifted slightly and Brad gently kissed her, she opened her eyes,

"Did I fall asleep again?" she said, sitting up, finally leaning back into Brad's contact. He wrapped an arm around her,

"It's fine, you're tired, I know, you can sleep on me whenever you want." Magenta stood up and wrapped herself in a towel,

"I'm going to bed, I don't feel good." Brad quickly stood up, put on a towel and followed her, she was getting dressed.

"What's wrong?" Magenta looked up and immediately dropped to her knees, holding her stomach, Brad took her hands and helped her up, bringing her to bed, "God, Magenta, you're sick."

"No, I'm fine, it happened all the time vhen I vas little, up until I vas about thirteen, it hasn't happened in a vhile." Magenta moved closer to Brad and closed her eyes, "If it happens again tomorrow, I vill let you vorry, but until then, I'm tired."

The next morning, the pain returned. Magenta threw up twice. Both times exuding only blood. Brad eventually was forced to take her to the hospital. She was laying in a hospital bed when the nurse told him she had anemia. Brad didn't tell her until they got home. So she could have privacy to cry herself to sleep.

...

Brad was woken up by coughing the next morning. Magenta was sitting up in bed next to him, luckily there was no blood. Brad reached over and rubbed her back, she leaned against the headboard, shaking.

"Do I really have anemia?" Brad sat up and lay Magenta's head in his lap,

"I'm sorry, I'll do anything I can to make you feel better." Magenta smiled weakly and allowed a tear to leak from her left eye.

"I hope that by the time ve get married, I'll be okay." Brad stroked her hair,

"You will. I know you will."

...

They went back to the hospital the next day to get medication. Once in the waiting room, Brad heard an obnoxiously familiar squeal from behind him and all at once saw her tramping across the shiny tile floor of the hospital, Columbia was in the building.

"Don't turn around." Brad whispered dangerously into Magenta's ear, of course, she did what anyone would do in that situation, turned around,

"Is that-"

"You shouldn't have turned around." Too late, Columbia was already standing in front of them,

"Genta? I ain't seen you in a while? You okay? The elevator, it's like, so fucked right now, I actually broke my wrist, I actually climbed down the elevator shaft! So, then I put a bunch of rhinestones on my cast, and... then I felt better! That's why I'm here, see... I want to see if I'm gettin' better! Why're y'all here, you sick, Brad? You're mentally sick. Is that why?"

"It's nice to see you, Columbia." Magenta said softly, looking down, "I'm sick."

"Aw, shoot. What is it, you okay?"

"Anemia." Brad snapped, "Can you go away?"

"Brad, I don't mind, she can stay."

"Yeah! I can stay, Brad! You creeper!" Columbia sat her ass down next to Magenta and hugged her, "I'm stayin'!" Brad stood up and dragged Magenta to a counter where a youngish-looking nurse was texting and yelling fiercely at her Blackberry,

"COME ON, GIRL, HAVE SOME SELF-RA-SPECK, IF HE DON'T RA-SPECK YOU, HE AIN'T WORTH YO TIHME!" Brad interrupted,

"Hello? Are you coherent?"

"Do _naht_ get loud wit' me, oh no!"

"I have a prescription."

* * *

><p>Brad brought Magenta home that night, Columbia followed them in her car. For whatever reason she was able to drive with a fucked-up, rhinestone-covered wrist.<p>

"Wow... Nice place!" She gushed the second she pulled into the driveway, her windows were rolled down, Brad ignored her and kept walking, once he and Magenta got inside she drove away.

...

Brad and Magenta stayed up almost all night that night. The bedside table light cast a soft pink glow across Magenta's sleepy face, she looked like a porcelain doll, her wide green eyes were shiny, glassy and almost, for the first time, innocent, adding to her doll-like appeal, her tiny red lips, curved into a shy smile, looked like two little rose petals against her flawlessly pale skin and her hair was like spilled blood on her pillow and twisted loosely around Brad's fingers, she moved closer to him, stifling a yawn and forcing her eyes to stay open,

"Honey, are you tired? Am I keeping you awake?" Magenta shook her head and rubbed her eyes,

"I just feel so safe with you." Magenta's breathing became slow and even,

"Okay, you can barely keep your eyes open," Brad turned the light off and pulled the covers over Magenta and himself, "So try to fall asleep." Magenta smiled in the dark and Brad pulled her on top of him, running his hands over her lush curves, he eventually felt her body slacken in sleep and laid her next to him. Her beauty outweighed the painful disease that Brad hoped desperately would not hurt her. Brad found himself kneeling next to her side of the bed and praying.

It was his prayer for Magenta that would save her. Brad knew she was barely religious, but he was, and he knew that God would help them. Somehow.


	7. Chapter 7

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

It had been a month. Magenta's anemia persisted, but not out of control. But it was that night that Brad found her sitting in the living room holding a white thing. Wordlessly, she walked towards him, smiling, with tears in her eyes, Magenta held out the white thing, Brad finally realized what was going on, and gently embraced her, gently rubbing the subtle bump that was beginning to form.

* * *

><p>Brad didn't sleep for two seconds that night. Magenta eventually woke up,<p>

"Vhen did you plan on falling asleep?" Brad turned to face her,

"Never, I guess..."

"You von't have many more nights like this, my family carries a gene vhich alvays speeds up pregnancies."

"Oh, God."

"Vhat's wrong now?"

"Has that ever killed any of the babies?"

"My family is huge. Does that give you a hint?" Magenta moved closer, "Just a few more months to go, my love." Brad turned the light out as Magenta slowly fell back asleep. Brad stared at her, stroking her hair and imagining how beautiful their baby would be. They would just have to be married before the baby was born. And after Brad had learned _that_ fact, he had even less a chance of falling asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person. December.<p>

Brad heard soft, hushed sobs echoing from the washroom. He could tell it was Magenta and that something was completely wrong. Brad found Magenta laying on the bathroom floor with blood running down her leg.  
>Brad was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, Columbia showed up after a while, the last person Brad wanted to see at a time like this.<p>

"What the hell is happening?" she shouted at Brad,

"They're doing tests, damn do I hope the baby's okay..." a nurse came over,

"Brad?"

"How is she?"

"She miscarried, could be her anemia, we don't know, she lost a lot of blood and we gave her a transfusion, but other than that she's fine. I'll let you take her home soon, but have her rest for a few days. You can come see her now." Brad and Columbia proceeded into the room, Magenta was laying in a bed next to a window, her eyes were glazed with tears, Brad sat next to her,

"I'm sorry." he recited, "I'm sorry this had to happen."

"Its because I have anemia, my baby died because of something I can't control." Magenta's hand traveled over the shell her stomach had become. "It'll be going down soon, But I von't forget, I can't forget vhat happened." Brad pulled her hand back,

"Its not the end of the world. We can try again." A few more tears escaped Magenta's eyes,

"The baby vould have been a girl."

Magenta stayed awake the entire night. Having to rest all day had warped her sleep schedule. Brad had fallen asleep and his hand was gently resting exactly where the baby had been. The swelling was going down, Magenta still felt like she had disappointed him, and silently prayed that his light touch on her abdomen would be enough to get her little girl back. Magenta suddenly sat up and shook Brad awake,

"What is it, baby, what's wrong?" Magenta didn't say anything but,

"It hurts." she clawed desperately at her stomach, her tic was coming back, she clawed until her hands began to ache and her nails drew blood and stained the sheets and her hands as Brad tried to calm her down, finally she exhausted herself and fell against Brad, sobbing. She started digging her nails into her knees, Brad held her hands,

"Ssh," Brad soothed, "You're going to hurt yourself." He lay her down on the bed and stroked her hair, "Just settle down, okay? It'll be fine in the morning." Brad lay down and wrapped his arm around Magenta's waist and gently kissed the back of her head and breathed in the intoxicatingly sweet scent of her soft red curls. She eventually fell asleep as her anemic debilitation slowly took over.

Magenta slept lightly for an hour until she woke up again, laying on her back and mopping blood off of her scratches. But they still didn't stop bleeding until Brad woke up and bandaged her cuts as gently as possible. They sat together in silence for a few hours until Brad finally spoke up,

"You seem tired."

"I'm okay." Magenta lay down on top of Brad on the couch, he had carried her down three flights of stairs and they were sitting together on the vast living room couch that could double as a twin bed, "I'm sorry, I've been overreacting, ve can try again." She lay her head on his shoulder,

"I promise I'll do anything for you, and I know the last few weeks have been hard for you, my sister miscarried last year. And I promise I'll try again if you really want to." Magenta gave Brad a tiny smile and covered them with a blanket,

"I don't vant to try again right now, maybe for now, ve should just be varm together."

Brad woke up to find Magenta with her lips about an inch away from his face. He could smell the flowery scent of her lip gloss. Columbia had given it to her, with perfume to match. Corny, but adorable in some respects. He gently touched his lips to hers and sat up. His parents would be back in a week, Brad would enjoy being alone with only one other person in a huge house, especially since that other person was who his mother referred to as his OSSP, Opposite Sex Sex Partner. They had both fallen asleep on the couch, Magenta was still in a blissful slumber and Brad almost woke her but was soon reminded of her miscarriage/anemia and left her alone. It was probably about 8 am, if so, Brad and Magenta had slept for seven hours, she had been recovering from the events of the previous night, Brad gingerly rubbed the bandages. He didn't know how he could help her get over it, she stirred slightly, a quiet 'mm' escaped her mouth,

"Magenta?" Brad whispered, seeing if she was awake, a gentle 'mmhmm' was her reply, she searched for his hand, eventually slipping her hand into Brad's grip, her eyes fluttered open and she smiled but still didn't say anything.

"Do you feel any better?"

"Still hurts." Magenta began to weakly stand up but Brad held her down,

"You really need to rest."

"But I vas just-"

"You need to stay in bed for at least a week. Now lie down." Magenta fell back against the cushions, Brad braced himself in a pushup above her, kissing her forehead through her silky bangs. It still felt hot, in contrast to the rest of her body.

"How long are you going to keep this up? If ve try again and I miscarry another time, vill you keep me in bed for another veek?"

"You know I will," Brad lightly kissed her again. "I'm making breakfast, you hungry?"

"I'll be fine." Brad stood up and proceeded into the kitchen across from the living room, taking a package of bacon out of the fridge and placing a frying pan on the oven,

"Are you sure you know vhat you're doing?" Magenta inquired,

"I'm okay, just rest for now." Brad turned the oven on and mentally froze, finally realizing that he truly was not okay with preparing any kind of edible... thing. Magenta stood up slowly and leaned against the partition that separated the kitchen from the living room as she came into the kitchen, Brad stepped back from the stove and let Magenta take over, she probably knew a little bit more about food, she was a domestic and Brad was just a mama's boy who could barely tell right from left,

"Looks delicious, babe." Brad whispered, pulling Magenta into an amative clinch from behind, she looked up and smiled,

"I'm not resting."

"Rules are meant to be broken." Magenta smiled, blanched and bent over, holding her stomach and moaning, she eventually knelt on the kitchen floor,

"Yeah, I was wrong, you need to rest."

"Are you using a nonstick frying pan?"

"No, why?"

"Oh, okay it's fine, I'll rest, vhen you burn a nonstick pan, it releases carcinogenic toxins."

"Well, I guess that's a good thing."  
>Magenta lay down on the couch, covering herself with the quilt that they had slept under the night before. Brad nervously prodded at the bacon.<p>

* * *

><p>Magenta immediately fell asleep that night, Brad stayed up, staring at her. He prayed for her again, praying that the next try would be successful, he knew God was always busy around December, but deep in the recesses of his mind, Brad knew that a living child was never very much work to arrange.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person. December.<p>

As soon as Magenta was able to get out of bed, Brad drove her to the above ground cemetery for miscarried babies, there was one in Denton, it was small, but beautiful. Brad stopped the car outside the pristine white gates,

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Brad asked, "I mean, this can be hard-"

"My little girl is in a better place now. If she couldn't be born, that obviously means something, maybe she's an angel now." Magenta ran a hand over the smooth black wood of the tiny casket she was holding, the words written across it read; I Never Met You, Baby, But You Still Bring Me Joy Every Day. And in smaller letters; You'll Always Be My Baby Girl Even If You Live In Heaven And Mommy And Daddy Live Down Here. You Live With God Now and Mommy and Daddy Will Never Forget You.

Brad saw a tear fall onto the immaculate ebony box, and slowly he and Magenta walked into the small building where their little girl would be staying, Magenta laid the little casket in a glass display case with Majors/Alvarado written on the glass.

"I promise I'll come see you every veek, Princess." Magenta whispered, kissing the box and closing the glass panel that closed off the display case. Brad and Magenta left without looking back. Nobody said anything for the rest of the drive home.

* * *

><p>Brad woke up in the middle of the night, Magenta was sitting up in bed, holding a bottle of red wine to her mouth with makeup running down her face, she pulled the bottle away from her mouth and coughed like she was choking,<p>

"You shouldn't binge like that, it's not your fault."

"How does this happen? I can't understand vhat I did wrong."

"This happens to everyone. Maybe it's the anemia, it could be anything. But we can try again when you feel up to it." Magenta put the bottle on her bedside table and lay down next to Brad, he held her as she cried for hours at a time, crying for her baby girl.


	10. Chapter 10

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Brad's POV. December.<p>

Magenta is still as beautiful as ever, when my mother was pregnant her body was almost absolutely wrecked, but, then again, she actually gave birth, my sister miscarried and nothing happened, but she didn't have anemia. The medication could have hurt the baby. But this is more than anyone should have to deal with. A miscarriage is something that can scar someone with an indescribable feeling of guilt and regret, at least that's how I know Magenta feels. I know she doesn't want to think about it, she's turning to alcoholism to cloud it over. She's been smashed since last night, for the moment, she's in the living room trying to sober up,

I sit down next to her and she leans into me,

"Has your headache gone down." she shakes her head, "It'll be over soon." She puts her legs on the couch and I reach over and hold onto her shin,

"Brad?"

"What is it, honey?"

"Can ve try again?" Magenta lays down and spreads her legs, "Now?"

"Whatever you want."


	11. Chapter 11

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person. Two Weeks Later.<p>

January came. Magenta's bruises and cuts had begun to heal, and a tiny distension was forming on her abdomen. They had tried again. Brad had written an extensive list of names, Magenta smiled a lot more than she had before and Brad was still thankful his parents would be home soon so they could meet with Magenta's parents. Brad and Magenta's lives were perfectly happy until that night in January.

* * *

><p>The light was becoming purple and soft outside, Magenta had complained that her stomach and back hurt and had disappeared into the washroom, after about five minutes, Brad heard a loud scream and ran to her, she was sitting in a pool of her own blood on the tile floor, Brad sat down next to her as the tears started flowing faster, Magenta lowered her hand and brought it back up, Brad gagged on the smell of blood, her hand was red and dripping, she inhaled and gripped her abdomen, sobbing harder. She held her hand to her forehead, smearing blood into her hair, she finally spoke,<p>

"I... I put it... in the box." she pointed to a cardboard box on the counter, "The baby is in the box. I vant to put her vith the other vone. In her casket." Magenta flinched in pain,

"You're okay, it'll be over soon," Brad laid a cold washcloth on the back of her neck, "We have to get you to a hospital." Brad held Magenta around her waist, as she stood up, more blood came rushing out and her knees gave out, Brad caught her,

"Sorry." Brad brought Magenta into the driveway and into the car, without shoes or a coat. In the winter. Brad was actually glad to have her blood saturated into his car upholstery. He would always have a part of her. Maybe when they got married and he had to leave her at home with the surviving children, he would never really be leaving her. Because her anemic blood would be stained in his car forever. Magenta stared at him as he started the car, her skin was a flat, milky blue color, like fabric softener. Her eyes were dilated, her lips were losing their vibrant red colour and becoming almost blue in the patches that showed under her lipstick, her nails were scratching tracks into the dashboard.

Finally, Brad arrived at the hospital, he carried Magenta inside, she was bleeding all over him but he didn't care, a nurse took her away and Brad called Columbia.

"Hi?"

"Columbia?"

"Brad! OMG! FRANK, BRAD'S ON THE PHONE! What?"

"It's Magenta."

"What happened?"

"She had another miscarriage."

"She did what?"

"You heard me just fine, we're at the hospital, can you come?"

"Yeah." She hung up.

* * *

><p>Columbia showed up just as Brad was able to see Magenta again,<p>

"Brad! Hi! Where is she?"

"Just in here, what took you so long?"

"I stopped for ice cream?"

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"Well, I got burnt-marshmallow-flavour, but... it kinda tasted like vanilla and cigarette-" Brad left Columbia talking to thin air, Magenta was in bed, Brad sat next to her,

"What'd they say?"

"It's probably going to happen again."

"How do they know that?"

"People like them know this kind of thing." Magenta turned her head. "I don't know if I vant to try anymore."

"You shouldn't give up like that." Brad started to stroke a red curl out of her face, "I promise next time it'll be okay. Are you still bleeding?" Magenta nodded, she still looked like she was going to be sick. A nurse came over and put a hand on her forehead,

"Hm, still warm. And still bleeding, do you still feel nauseous?" Magenta nodded again and the nurse inclined the upper half of the bed so Magenta was almost sitting up. Columbia burst in,

"MAGGIE!"

"Columbia..."

"How you doin'?"

"Still bleeding."

"Aw, shoot!" Columbia sat her ass down on the bed, "Was it a girl or boy?"

Magenta was silent.

"A boy- oh God," Magenta turned even whiter and the nurse held an emesis basin under her mouth,

"The blood has that effect on people. You'll stop bleeding soon, then you can go home." the nurse whispered, "I'm so sorry this happened."

* * *

><p>Brad brought Magenta home that night, she fell asleep on the drive home and Brad didn't bother waking her, just brought her to bed in her clothes, at about 12:37 he got up, feeling her hand attach to his,<p>

"Please don't leave." said Magenta's quiet voice in the dark, Brad sat back down, unaware of why he was standing up in the first place, "I just don't vant to be alone." Brad covered her with the blankets,

"I'll stay." Magenta shuttered,

"Rats, I'm bleeding again."

"Rats?"

Magenta smirked, "Like you could come up vith anything better." She tripped into the bathroom, Brad waited, laying in bed and smiling. She said 'rats'. She seemed happy enough to say 'rats' instead of 'fuck'. That was a good sign. Until he heard his name being called in a sad and quiet voice. He got out of bed and found Magenta sitting on the bathroom floor with her head in her hands,

"Baby, are you okay?" Magenta looked up with makeup running down her face,

"P-parents..."

"What is it?"

"Your parents are coming home soon..."

"Yeah...? In two days, actually..."

"Vell... ve can't stay here vhen they get back. I need to fix things vith my parents."

"No, okay, you don't have to, we're getting married soon anyway-" Magenta stood up slowly, causing more blood to seep through the fabric of her underwear, she had mostly stripped before going to bed, a few streams of red poured down her leg, she grabbed the edge of the marble counter to keep her balance and a little more blood streamed down and landed heavily on the bathroom tiles.

"Ve need to. They don't even know ve're engaged yet. You have to drive me." Brad didn't bother protesting. He stood up and got dressed, Magenta sifted through the bag she'd packed at the castle that held, as she had said, all the clothes she'd brought from home to work at the castle. She pulled out a few 'feminine essentials'. She went into the washroom and came out fully clothed and not covered in blood. They got in the car and Magenta directed Brad where to drive...

...

Brad pulled up outside a large house. It was probably about three stories. It was beautiful.

"Is this where you grew up? You said you lived in an apartment on Transsexual..."

"Vell, Likian currency is very different from American."

"Likian?"

"Transsexual is just like Earth, but vith different countries. Likia is... vhere America would be. I grew up in Shanaya, vhich is the province and Kurkova City vas the city."

"Cool names. So, are you sure you want to do this?" Magenta nodded,

"Completely sure." She got out of the car and walked slowly towards the door, Brad hung back and arrived on the front step as Arden answered the door, her straight blonde hair was spilling over her right shoulder, her face softened when she saw Magenta standing in front of her,

"Oh, oh, baby..." Arden pulled Magenta towards her and dragged her inside, the house was empty, Arden sat Magenta down on a couch against a wall,

"Vhere is everyvone?"

"Oh, your father is, uh, with Paris, Aidan and Idina, shopping. For... a car. Rayne and Tafatia will be home soon, Dominic is on his second honeymoon with Diane, that's his wife, Brad, and Delia and her husband, Luke are taking the kids out. So what brings the two of you here."

Magenta began to tell her mother about everything, about the anemia, the miscarriages, about the engagement and it was apparent that Arden was close to guilty tears. The door swung open.

A tall young man who looked like Arden and a slightly shorter woman with short black hair walked in the door,

"WE'RE HOME!" screeched the woman, then the awful truth dawned on Brad. This was Rayne and Tafatia. There was something about Rayne's face that seemed familiar. Maybe it was his hair... Or the way he glanced at Brad with thinly veiled contempt.

"Rayne, you know Brad."

"I wish I didn't."

"Do I know him?"

"I was at the castle."

"Oh no... How old are you anyway, like, 30?"

"23."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Aren't ve getting to know each other nicely..."

"Hi! I'm Tafatia!" said the woman, "I'm 28."

"So Rayne, your plan to go back to Transsexual failed, didn't it?"

"Suck it."

"That's okay, thanks for offering though."

* * *

><p>Brad and Magenta ended up sleeping in her room that night. It was one of the two rooms on the third floor, one wall was a window that was covered with a delicate red curtain, the rest of the walls were painted dark pink with an iron bed pushed against one, the bedsheets were grey with darker grey bows, it looked as if Magenta hadn't redecorated since she was 16, there were drawings on the walls and a sketch of a girl who looked like Magenta, the name <em>Samantha L. <em>was scrawled in a corner of the picture, and in the other corner, _Magenta-2004. _

"My friend drew that of me in 7th grade. Just after we moved here from Kurkova vhen I was 11." said Magenta from her closet, the door was open a crack,

"What about the other drawings on the walls?" Magenta opened her closet door, she was wearing a lace nightgown with capped sleeves,

"I used to draw. Vhen I vas in high school, my parents vanted me to show people vhat I drew, but I never vanted to. I think I vas 14 vhen I drew these." she touched a drawing of a girl with red hair and a red coat holding a black cat, "I used to have a cat, but Tafatia has her now. Her name is Gia, ve got her vhen I vas... I think maybe 15." Brad lay down and Magenta lay next to him,

"Maybe we should get a cat."

"Ve should." Magenta laid a gentle kiss on Brad's shoulder, "I love you. I love you so much, you know that, right?"

"I hope you do. Because I feel the same way." Magenta turned the light off, and Brad fell asleep listening to her breathing and the TV downstairs. Arden was watching Grey's Anatomy. And Brad could see the snow falling outside through the red curtain and Magenta sleeping next to him. And it was beautiful.


	12. Chapter 12

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. Oh, and BTW, I would like to thank the people who actually read my stuff; Anne Oying, mysticaljazzy, opheliafrump, RHPSluvver13, QueenCynder, and last, but the exact opposite of least, the lovely LUNAR SUNSETS! And other people, but for now I'm just listing the regulars. If you would like to become one, read and review y'all!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad woke up early. The snow was still pouring down steadily and Magenta was still asleep. Brad glanced at the cute, pink, adolescent-girl-type alarm clock on Magenta's nightstand.

It was 2:00 in the morning.

"Shit." Brad bitched as he tripped out of bed, Magenta shifted and opened her eyes,

"You okay?"

"Yeah, your clock's slow? Right?"

"It's 30 minutes fast. It's been like that since I vas 15."

"So you were early for everything?"

"Pretty much." Magenta opened her mouth but was cut off as Tafatia burst into the room,

"Hey, lovebirds, listen, 'Genta, I'm out of flour."

"So?"

"So I asked Rayne for some but he told me to fuck off, he had a girl in his room... So I'm asking you. Do you have any flour?"

"Vhy the hell vould you need that?"

"To eat! Duh!"

"Fuck off."

* * *

><p>Brad and Magenta had the house to themselves that night, they would for the next week. They were lying on the roof, wrapped in a few blankets and winter coats, it was snowing. They were staring into the night sky as the snowflakes floated down, they were collecting on Magenta's eyelashes and melting under her eyes when she blinked, Brad pulled her closer, she was shivering.<p>

They were silent for about an hour. That's when Brad realized that Magenta had been asleep for the past 45 minutes. He eventually carried her back inside along with the blankets and coats, laying her down on her bed, she opened her eyes and sat up,

"Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah, I didn't want either of us to die of hypothermia." Magenta smiled and stood up,

"I'm taking a hot showver." Magenta removed the majority of her clothes and proceeded into the washroom. She came back out a few minutes later, wet and radiating warmth. She lay down, Brad felt her warm skin touching his, he turned the lights off,

"Goodnight." he whispered, Magenta didn't say anything but gently ran a hand up Brad's arm to his shoulder

"I love you so much." she said quietly, Brad stroked the back of her hair,

"Ohhhh... your hair feels like a CAT!"

Magenta froze and leaned back, smiling nervously.

"Goodnight Brad."

* * *

><p>Brad didn't go to sleep that night. He stayed up and stared at Magenta for hours on end. The moonlight streaming in the window cast a soft glow across her sleeping body. Her anemia medication made her sick to the point of almost bulimic, her endearing curves had been stripped away.<p>

Arden opened the door,

"Brad, are you horny for my daughter?" she giggled,

"Oh, I didn't expect-"

"I decided not to stay at Dominic's house, Taf and I are going to stay here with you kids. Why is Magenta wet?"

"She showered."

"With you...?"

"No."

"AH, THANK GOD. No offense, dear, I just _hate_ the idea of my little girl being _naaaaaaaaauuuuuughty_!" Magenta opened her eyes just as Tafatia walked into the room.

"SISSY!"

"Tafatia...?"

"Yep, that's me!" Tafatia skipped away down the hall, Arden smirked sheepishly and held up a latte cup from Starbucks,

"She had coffee on the way over. Remember, Genta, when we took that trip to Louisiana to visit cousin Jodi when you were thirteen? And Tafatia had at least six donuts... Not pretty, eh? I'm 'on go unpack." Arden sauntered down the hallway to her bedroom,

"Oh, sure. Brad, can you please check if anyvone else is on the drivevay? I don't vant to have to put up vith any more of my family."

"Okay." Brad laid a kiss on her forehead and glanced out the glass wall, immediately jumping back and shrieking louder than he knew how.

A cat's tail was poking out from underneath the curtain.

"THERE'S AN ANIMAL IN HERE!"

"An animal?" the cat poked it's head out from under the curtain, it was a black cat with a white collar,

"NEEEEEEOOOOWWWWWW..."

"Gia!" the cat hopped up onto the bed, "Did Auntie Tafatia bring you home to me?"

"Neeeeeowwww..."

"Is that your cat?"

"Yes, Gia, say hi to Brad."

The cat was silent.

* * *

><p>Tafatia and Arden left the next morning, Brad slept in and Magenta made breakfast, Gia meowed and snow continued to fall.<p>

Then Brad heard it.

A dull thump sounded from the kitchen, Brad jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen, Magenta was passed out on the tiled floor, blood was stemming from her nose.

...

Brad was sitting in the hospital waiting room when the hematologist approached him,

"Hello, Mr Majors, I'm Dr Helms, you brought your girlfriend in?"

"Is she okay?"

"She has a concussion, and her anemia medication may have brought on a narcoleptic episode, she's resting right now and you can come see her." Dr Helms led Brad into a small white room where Magenta was sleeping lightly. Brad sat next to her,

"You're sure she's okay, right?"

"For the moment, but we have to ask you a few questions, has Magenta been hurt lately?"

"She was in an elevator when the cable snapped, but she's okay now. What does this have to do with what happened?"

"She could have been priorly damaged."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if Magenta was hurt in the accident, the damage that was inflicted may have caused this to happen." Brad glanced at Magenta, she didn't look hurt except for the dried blood on her face.

"I don't know how this could happen..."

"We see this a lot, we need to do a CT, though."

"Do you have to do that now?"

"I'm going to take her now, yes."

Brad stared down at her, she was probably just as scared as he was.

* * *

><p>Brad kept his eyes abnormally wide driving down the Denton freeway, Magenta glanced at him nervously from the passenger seat,<p>

"You're going too fast."

"I'm not going to crash the car."

"Vell, just be careful."

"Are you sure you're not completely numb right now?"

"I'm fine."

"You had a concussion."

"And I threw up two hours ago, now I feel better." Brad pulled into the empty driveway, nobody was home. Magenta got out of the car silently. Brad watched as she disappeared into the house silently before he slammed his forehead against the steering wheel, letting hot tears spill down his face.

He knew he'd failed her.

...

Brad opened the front door to an empty living room. Gia was sleeping on the couch. Brad noticed that the guest bathroom door was closed.

"Magenta?" Brad walked up to the door, "Are you okay?"

No answer.

"Sweetheart, can you hear me?" Brad started to bang on the door, "Please, open the door." Brad started to violently bang harder until the door swung open and revealed Magenta sitting, still, on the edge of the bathtub. Holding her left forearm against her chest. The white eyelet lace shirt she was wearing was mostly red.

* * *

><p><strong>OOH! Shit! Cliffhanger!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF. **

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Arden and a tall skinny woman with short blonde hair who Brad understood to be Delia arrived at the hospital within five minutes of being called.

"What happened?" Arden shrieked, Brad was waiting in Magenta's room,

"She was... cutting."

"Cutting?"

"Like, you know, self-harm, and she cut through an artery. It caused heavy bleeding. "

"Why would she do something like this?"

"Mother, stop."

"No, I won't, Delia, she couldn't stop after six years? I hate this."

"Well, you were kind of a bitch to her. About everything." Delia criticized, Arden looked at her severely,

"I WAS JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT LESS OF A PROBLEM!"

"SHE BARELY OPENED HER MOUTH BECAUSE OF YOU! THAT'S HOW BAD YOU MADE IT! JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH WILLPOWER AND SELF-CONTROL! YOUR YOUNGEST DAUGHTER IS BORDERLINE AUTISTIC BECAUSE OF THE WAY YOU TALKED DOWN TO HER FROM THE TIME SHE WAS EIGHT TO NOW! YOU RUINED HER!"

Arden glared at Delia, "You were just as bad. The way you used to talk to her, she wanted to be seen and not heard and you enforced it. YOU WERE THE WORST SISTER-"

"PLEASE, ARDEN, AND DELIA, what the fuck?"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH, BRAD!" they snapped in unison.

Magenta woke up.

"Brad, vhat happened...?"

"I'll leave you." Delia announced, Arden ran after her.

"Brad, I'm serious, vhy the hell am I in a hospital... again?" she glanced at the bandages on her arm, "Brad, listen to me-"

"It's fine." Magenta collapsed into Brad's contact as violent tears racked her body,

"I cut an artery, didn't I?"

"Yes, you cut an artery."

Magenta leaned back, "It's just like the first time."

"This has happened before? Don't tell me-"

"I vas 18. Eddie and Columbia brought me in, I vas mostly dead for about 7 minutes." Brad stroked Magenta's hair gently. "I vant to go home."

"Me too."

The doctor walked in, "Good news, Ms Alvarado, you can go home as soon as your transfusion runs out, Mr... uh... Majors, I need to talk to you for a minute."

Brad kissed Magenta's forehead one last time and followed the doctor into the hall,

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes, has Magenta exhibited any signs of OCD or depression?"

"Look, I know she's a little unstable, but she didn't have a very good childhood and she's under a lot of stress, so-"

"Mr. Majors, she was self-harming, that's not a good sign-"

"Listen, you can't tell me about her. It's not your place. I'm going to take her home now."

* * *

><p>Brad found Magenta sitting still on the edge of their bed. Wide-eyed, digging her nails into her knees. Brad sat next to her and held an arm around her,<p>

"You okay?"

"Shh, you made me lose count."

"Lose count of what?" Blood began to bead to the surface of her white skin, she shuddered and Brad pulled her hands away. "It doesn't matter, you could bleed out again."

"I didn't bleed out. I-mm." she flinched again, "I lost count..."

Brad held a hand against her cheek and turned her focus in his direction, "Tell what you lost count of."

Magenta exhaled, "Ever since I vas 13, I need this... I need it and I don't vant to lose count again. I have to start over. Only two minutes..." she closed her eyes tightly and dug her nails harder into her skin, "20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15-" blood began to stream down her shins and onto her hands,

"You have to stop before you get hurt."

"I'm okay, it doesn't hurt. It never hurts." Brad lifted her hands away and lay her down,

"You don't need this. This isn't good for you."

"Vell, it helps. It feels good."

Brad sat back and held out his arms, "You need to go to sleep, you're not thinking straight." Magenta moved closer to him as her tears began to stream heavily, "It's okay."

She shuddered and finally whispered, "It alvays hurts."

"That's why you need to stop."

"But I can't..." she sobbed, "I need this..." Brad stood up,

"I'll be right back." Brad went into the kitchen and dialed Arden's number on his phone,

"Hi, Brad, is something wrong?"

"There's something wrong with Magenta. She was digging her nails under her skin and bleeding, and she just said she'd lost count. Lost count of what?"

"That hasn't happened in a while... it's been years since her last episode."

"Episode?"

"Oh God, Brad, I was sure Tafatia had told you. Magenta's OCD."

"She's what?"

"I know, it's hard to understand at first, it was hard for all of us. Is it happening right now?"

"She's in the bedroom right now."

"Okay, can she talk to me?"

"I don't know. I don't think she really wants to talk to anyone."

"Okay, I'll just have to talk you through this, you need to either get her to sleep or just give her a while to come up from the low point she's in. Anything to calm her down, she's agitated right now, she needs to be comforted, and when she's calmed down, you have to try to convince her to get help."

"Help?"

"Like from a psychologist?"

"I couldn't convince her, maybe you could, she'll listen to you."

"... Thank you, Arden."

"Any time, baby."

Brad hung up the phone and went back into the bedroom, Magenta was sitting on the floor with her back against the edge of the bed,

"I lost count, I think I can try again tomorrow..."

"Okay," Brad lied as he lifted her gently into bed and kissed her cheek and tasted her tears on his bottom lip, "Just go to sleep, I'm right here."

* * *

><p>Magenta woke up a few hours after Brad did that morning. She sat up and rubbed her eyes,<p>

"Vhat happened last night?"

Brad sat down on the end of the bed, "I don't know. And, I don't think... that we can deal with this by ourselves."

"Are you suggesting-"

"Yes. I need you need to talk to someone about this. Before it takes over your life."

...

For the moment, they were both sitting in Brad's car. In silence, outside a psychologist's office. Magenta leaned her head against the window,

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"I'm sorry. But you really need help, okay?" Brad could almost see the threatening tears behind Magenta's eyes, within seconds, she had left the car.

...

A psychologist approached Brad in the waiting room two hours later,

"Are you a Brad Majors?"

"Yes..."

"You brought your girlfriend in, for OCD?"

Brad nodded,

"Well, her condition is worse than most patients."

"But you can help, right?"

"We'll put her on a strong medication, but it may get to the point where we have to follow with electro-convulsive therapy."

"Shock treatment?" **(A/N; didn't you see it coming?)**

"Magenta's OCD is getting to the point where-"

"You don't just induce seizures in people."

"It's perfectly safe-"

"No. It's really not."

Magenta walked into the waiting room,

"Ms Alvarado, we need your consent. For the treatment."

Magenta nodded silently and followed the psychologist down the hall, Brad grabbed hold of her hand,

"Are you sure about this?"

Magenta turned around, "You saw how bad it got last night. That can't be my life. I can't raise our kids like that, I just vant to get better." tears were becoming evident.

"I'll be right outside this door, okay? I promise, I won't leave."

* * *

><p>The treatment was finished after about five minutes, Brad wasn't allowed in, Magenta came out after a while, her hair was dishevelled.<p>

"Are you okay?" Brad whispered.

"I don't know..." Magenta squeaked, leaning into his contact, "Vhere are ve?"

Brad was shocked, "What did you do to her? Why can't she remember where we are?"

"It's a side-effect of the treatment, it'll wear off soon." Brad stroked Magenta's hair, "I need to write a prescription for medication."

* * *

><p>By the time Brad brought Magenta home it was late, around 9:30 pm. Magenta spent about an hour walking slowly up and down the hallways running her hands along the walls, Brad found her sitting against the wall,<p>

"I thought the valls vere blue last time." she whispered into her hands. Brad glanced at the green-and-white pinstriped walls, tacky, but forgivable.

"No, they weren't."

Magenta dug her nails into the hardwood floor, "I think I vould remember the colour of the valls. Vhy can't I remember?"

"It's the treatment, you'll be able to remember." Brad could see a light sweat breaking out on Magenta's face, but soon rethought that when he noticed that it was coming from her eyes.

"I need a second." Magenta stood up and went back into the bedroom, Brad sat still and listened for the sound of someone passing out.

No such sound followed.

Brad waited about five minutes before he went into the bedroom as well. Magenta was leaning against the wall staring glassily into the middle distance. Holding her left arm tightly to her chest like it was broken.

Blood was running down her other arm between her fingers.

"You're bleeding."

"I know."

"Why?" Brad asked, finally pulling Magenta to face him by her shoulder, "Tell me." he demanded. Magenta looked at the floor, Brad grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her forearm to his eye level. Her white skin was decorated with deep slash marks.

"I can explain-"

"Why would you do this again? You're going to kill yourself, you almost died last time, this is killing you. You can't do this to yourself!"

"I- I- please-"

_SLAP_

Before Brad could realize what he had done, Magenta had stumbled backwards with blood streaming steadily down her cheek.

Before Brad knew it, he was backing out the door.

* * *

><p>"Arden?"<p>

"Brad, hi, is Genta okay?"

"No, she's not. We're not."

"Slow down, sweetheart, what happened?"

"...I slapped her. She'd been cutting again and I slapped her across the face."

"How hard did she take it?"

"I don't know, I couldn't take it, I left the house, I'm outside the Starbucks on Evans Street."

"I wouldn't worry, Genta's tough, she can handle it, she's been through worse."

"Worse?"

"Oh, Brad, I'm sure Rayne or someone would have told you. When Magenta was 12, she was raped, she got pregnant and miscarried, then when she was 14, she was raped again and it ended the same way. It was twice that year that it happened. And she'd been raped when she was really little, I'm talking elementary school age. I think she'll be able to handle a little domestic abuse."

"That's awful-"

"It was awful when it happened, she was always a very sexual little girl..."

"I need to go back to her."

* * *

><p><em>9 years earlier.<em>

_"Demetrius, stop it-"_

_"SHUT UP!"_

_SMACK_

_"Demetrius, I'm telling my dad-"_

_"Shut up, Magenta."_

_"NO! GO AVAY!"_

_"You little bitch, you're fucking asking for it..."_

_"I'M NOT A BITCH, STOP! DADDY!"_

_SLAP_

_"I vanna go home..."_

_"Not until I'm done with you."_

_"Is that blood? Am I bleeding? DADDY!"_

_"Cassius can't hear you. So shut up and take your top off."_

* * *

><p>Magenta was asleep when Brad got back to the house. He was amazed how she could sleep. He sat down next to her and touched her hair. It was damp, probably from tears. A dark purple bruise was spreading from her cheekbone to her jaw.<p>

"I'm so sorry." he whispered pointlessly, "I hope you know that."

As Brad was laying down, Magenta snapped awake, looking like a deer caught in headlights for a second, she finally broke down.

"You said... you promised- You promised you'd never hurt me."

"I know. I was being irrational."

Magenta looked down and her hair fell into her face, "I can remember things now. I can remember the seizure. It vas dark, and hot and I couldn't move, it felt numb and my head hurt, and I could hear someone screaming and I didn't know if it vas me or not. And I vas scared."

Brad moved closer to her and lay her down, "I'm so sorry I had to put you through this."

"It vas vorse than being raped." Magenta whispered, Brad could feel tears beginning to flow out of his control, Magenta noticed, "Oh, baby, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made the connection, it vasn't that bad, I promise-"

"No, don't say anything, you don't need to say any more." Brad held Magenta closer and sobbed harder, it was evident that he was upsetting her.

"I don't vant to be like this anymore..."

Brad closed his eyes,

_"What a joke, what a joke, you feel like choking_,

_you play for broke, you play for broke, it leaves you smoking,_

_romance is not a children's game,_

_but you keep going back, it's driving you insane."_

Magenta dried her eyes on the back of her hand, "Don't stop."

_"Drift into the treacle-deep, slip into it's silent depths, go to sleep,_

_with your everything akimbo, float into the sandman's limbo._

_Night-night, it's time for bye-byes, it's been a great day, thanks a heap,_

_now it's time for everyone to go to sleep,_

_night-night, it's time for bye-byes, it's been a great day, thanks a heap, _

_Now it's time for everyone to go to sleep..."_

Brad felt Magenta's breathing become slow and even. He lay her down and patted her hair, covering her up with the sheets and kissing the bruise on her cheek,

"I promise you'll be getting better soon." he whispered, "And I'm willing to do anything to get you there."


	14. Chapter 14

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF.**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Magenta was sleeping when Brad woke up. Gia was climbing up the thin red curtain by her claws,

"You stupid cat." Brad snapped at her, prying her off of the curtain, "You clearly have no manners."

"SSSSSSS!"

"Don't hiss at me."

"SSSSSS!"

"If I had my way, you'd be at the animal shelter."

"REEEE-OW!"

"Alright, you need to run around outside. Come on, kitty-cat." Brad carried Gia into the backyard, he put the leash onto her collar and tied her leash to a brick. "Say meow if you need anything."

Brad proceeded back inside, he looked into the fridge and poked around looking for a jar of pickles. He was in withdrawal. He found a box of condoms labelled 'Rayne', a bag of bread, cat food, various boxes of cheese labelled 'Delia' and other miscellaneous food items. No pickles.

"Shit."

He looked in various drawers, finding silverware, cooking equipment and knives that looked like Magenta had used them and forgotten to wash the blood off. Brad threw the drawer shut and stepped back.

He found himself in the living room, sifting through home movies, finally settling on one labelled 'Genta's 4th birthday'. He put it in the DVD player and turned it on. A grainy image of a little girl with long red curls jumping on bubble wrap flashed onto the screen, Brad could make out Arden's voice doing a running commentary on the whole thing,

"It's Magenta's birthday today, yay! How old are you, Princess?"

"FOUR!" Magenta went back to jumping on the bubble wrap and Arden focused the camera on Tafatia, who was sitting in a corner of the room, scowling.

"And Tafatia isn't impressed."

"SHE'S PLAYING MORE WITH THAT STUPID BUBBLE WRAP THAN WITH ANY OF HER PRESENTS!"

Brad turned the video off and threw the remote. It was disturbing to watch the happy little girl popping bubbles with no knowledge of what was coming. This little girl hadn't been raped, or used, or taunted yet, she didn't know that she would eventually lose her innocence. Now it was too late.

Brad went back into the bedroom, Magenta was still sleeping, hugging a pillow against her chest. Brad sat next to her, thinking of the little girl in the video and how he could get her back. He stood up and went into the washroom, he had never physically been in there before, he'd glanced in a few times and Magenta had cut her artery in the bathroom on the main floor, but he'd never noticed the details.

The shower curtain was pink and frilly and the walls painted coral pink with a white lace motif. It smelled vaguely like a Bath And Body Works, probably because it's products lay scattered around the room, mostly Twilight Woods, Moonlight Path and Japanese Cherry Blossom, **(A/N, these are assorted BBW scents)** but there was a wide variety. It seemed like a nice place for shower sex. But most disturbing were the canisters of pills that peeked out from behind a bottle of perfume. And the razor blade that had been tossed carelessly into the sink. And the blood soaking into the pink fluffy bathmat that lay in a bunch on the edge of the bathtub. And the blood in the shower, the sink and on the tile floor.

It was horrifying.

Brad fled the room and found himself back in the kitchen. Staring into space. He was half expecting Arden or Tafatia or some other Alvarado sibling to come racing through the door with their sexual partner of choice, but he remained alone. He knew Magenta was going to wake up sooner or later, unless she had overdosed on something, Brad tried to push the thought from his mind, when he couldn't, he stood up and went upstairs.

Brad gently peeled the sheets back, Magenta was barely wearing anything and it turned him on. He lifted her out of bed and carried her downstairs, Brad sat down on the couch and Magenta her down next to him, she stirred and buried her face into his lap, Brad patted her back and she looked up.

"Did you bring me down here?" she whispered gently, sitting up and moving into his lap, lightly brushing her lips up and down his face, Brad nodded, "How long have you been avake?"

"A while, you feeling better?"

Magenta nodded, "I love you, I know you vouldn't ever hurt me. And I vas being a bitch."

Brad smiled and hugged her tighter, "I'm the bitch."

They started to violently make out on the couch until Brad's foot collided with the power button on the TV and another home video flickered onto the screen. Magenta glanced up,

"Is that-"

"Apparently..."

The video was of a bunch of 11year old girls on a stage doing what looked to be a hybrid between ballet and tripping. Magenta stared and smiled,

"That's a dance recital I vas in vhen I vas 11. My first one, my family couldn't afford lessons vhen ve still lived in Kurkova City."

A few of the little girls on the screen stumbled and one with short black hair skidded, almost off the stage. The little girl that looked like Magenta and another girl with a long blonde ponytail were the last two standing by the end of the video. The video flickered off and Magenta was left staring into space. She stood up,

"I'll just be a second..."

The awful truth was dawning on Brad that she was probably either cutting or doing something else to draw blood. He stood up and followed her down the hall, he found her sitting in a corner of her bathroom holding a bottle of Tylenol.

"Please tell me you're not planning on overdosing."

"It happened that night..." she squeaked, covering her mouth and moving away, like it was post-traumatic stress.

"What? What happened, are you-"

"When my recital vas over, I vent offstage, my friend Demetrius vas there, he congratulated me for not tripping, then he brought me into the locker room and fucked me."

"Fucked you?"

Magenta nodded, "Dominic beat him off."

"Dominic?"

"My oldest brother." Magenta fell silent, "It vasn't my first time though. Being raped."

"What was your first time?" Brad asked before he knew what he was saying,

Magenta's eyes clouded with more tears, "I vas 6."

Brad held an arm around her and she flinched away, her eyes had gotten huge and she was sweating.

"Are you okay-"

"Please, Demetrius-" Magenta buried her face in her knees, "Please, stop..."

"It's okay, I'm not raping you-"

"PLEASE! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Magenta was sobbing harder by this point, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS, I THOUGHT VE VERE FRIENDS!" she suddenly stood up, she was shaking, "Please please please please-" she begged desperately, Brad stood up and held her shoulders,

"You're not eleven anymore, you're twenty, you're beautiful and I love you-"

Magenta's tears slowly stopped flowing.

"Brad, I thought-"

"I know." she leaned into his chest and cried softly,

"Vhat's wrong vith me?"

"Nothing, there's nothing wrong with you, I promise."

"Then why am I like this?"

"Like what?" the tears began to stream more heavily, "You're perfect." Brad whispered. Magenta pulled back and peeled off her shirt, her eyes developed a pleading look behind her tears. Brad took the hint and followed her into the bedroom.

**Magenta's POV.**

I forgot how much I like it. I lost my virginity at age six, before I even knew what was happening. I bleed less when Brad does it, he doesn't want to hurt me. I forgot that it felt good.

I usually just close my eyes. I can't look, if I look I just remember all of those times, all the babies I lost, all the friends I lost. They fell away because I was a target. Because no-one likes a whore. And being raped makes me a whore.

I like it, it feels nice, knowing that someone wants to do something like that to me. That I'm desirable enough, that someone would like to see me like that. Naked, covered in blood, too young to understand... It must be fun, or else nobody would come back for more.

Now all I can focus on is not looking.


	15. Chapter 15

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF.**

**And this chapter is going to be a little short...**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad was woken up when Gia jumped onto the bed,

"MRRREOW!"

"Shut up." Brad whined, pushing Gia onto the floor, she skittered away to the kitchen. Magenta stirred a little and Brad gently touched his lips to her forehead. It was hot. She opened her eyes,

"Vhat happened last night?"

"Well," Brad began, "You had a flashback, you thought I was raping you, and after we did it, you passed out."

"I vhat?"

"It's fine. You were just overwhelmed, I'm so sorry..."

"Please don't say that anymore..."

"What, that I'm sorry? I really am."

"But you didn't do anything. There's nothing for you to be sorry for, I love you, I really love you, and you have nothing to be sorry for."

Brad stroked Magenta's hair out of her face, her eyes began to stray from his face and travel across the room, she turned her head and Brad turned her focus to face him, the bruise on her face was fading.

"I really do think you need help."

"I'm fine!" Magenta capitulated, sitting up quickly, her eyes were no longer vacant, "Nothing happened last night!"

"You thought I was trying to kill you!" Brad half-screamed, Magenta froze, shock was beginning to register, she was beginning to remember what had happened.

"I really did, didn't I?" Brad nodded, "Vhy am I so fucked up?"

Brad pulled her closer, "You're not. You've just been through more in your childhood than most people go through in their whole lives."

"I don't feel any more experienced. It didn't give me a new outlook on my life or vhatever. It just ruined my life."

"I think it would ruin mine too."

At that moment, Gia decided to come into the room and squeak.

* * *

><p>"Brad?"<p>

"What is it?"

"I think I need to get help." Magenta stood up off the couch, "This isn't normal."

"Of course it's not." Brad stood up and held Magenta's hands, "Nothing ever is."

"If I had a dollar for every time I heard somevone say that-"

"I promise you'll get through this."

"It's not going avay. It's been like this since I vas ten, if I touch something vith vone hand, I have to touch it vith the other or I obsess over it for the rest of the day. I don't deal vith odd numbers because they make me nervous. I'll spend hours vondering if I did something that doesn't even matter, I'll re-arrange things until it doesn't hurt my eyes to look at them, I repeat everything you say to me in my head because I don't vant to spend hours trying to remember vhat you said to me, I can't use sidevalks because if I step on a crack with one foot and feel it I have to stop and do it on the other side, I'LL EVEN- mm-"

Magenta was cut off as she fell unconscious.

...

"Mr Majors? You brought your girlfriend in?" asked a perky-looking nurse,

"Is she okay, what happened?"

"She collapsed, her red blood cell count is at an all-time low. We may have to keep her overnight."

"Overnight?"

"It's in your best interest, she's very sick."

"Well, which room is she in?"

"Just through here, I'll take you there. Is your girlfriend on any medications I should know about?"

"...Anemia meds. OCD, depression, should I maybe write it down?"

"Later. " The nurse opened a door to a small grey room, Magenta was sleeping in a metal bed wrapped in the toothpaste green sheets, multiple wires were stuck in her delicate arms, Brad sat down on the end of her bed and gently laid a hand on her knee. Her eyelids fluttered open and she gently touched the tubes in her nose, to Brad's surprise, she _smiled_.

"Vhat the hell..." she giggled, "Vhy do I have-" her voice trailed off as she sat up and looked around the room, "Am I in a hospital?" Brad nodded, "Anemia?"

"Yes, baby. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault..." she was still smiling. "Vhen can ve go home?"

"Tomorrow."

Magenta's face darkened, "Is Gia inside?"

"Yes, she's inside."

"Did you feed her?"

"Yes."

"Did you make our bed?"

"Did I need to?"

"Ve have to go home..."

"It's fine, I can go back to the house tonight."

"No, it's too late anyvay, maybe I should just go home early..."

"You need to stay at the hospital, okay?"

"I don't know..."

Brad stood up, "Excuse me a second."

He opened the door, the nurse was standing outside the room,

"Mr Majors, do you need anything?"

"Magenta's OCD."

"I know, I could kind of figure it out, she spent twenty minutes fidgeting with her IV."

"Well, you're going to need to know some things."

"Things?"

"...Don't breathe loudly. Don't shuffle your papers, keep things in pairs in her room, leave her door open three inches, make sure the blinds on her windows are open 24/7-"

"She's only here for one more night, why does this matter?"

Brad was silent, "Because I don't want her to have to stay for more."


	16. Chapter 16

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF.**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad pulled into the driveway of the Alvarado home the next day at about 5 pm. Nobody else was there, Magenta ran inside, Brad followed her at a distance, he found her in the living room, petting Gia, in silence,

"Meeeeeowwwwwww..."

"Hi Gia."

"SSSS!"

Magenta put a hand over Gia's mouth, Brad contained a smile. She stood up,

"I think I'm going to bed."

"It's only five."

"It's almost dark already, I might as vell."

"You need to stay awake for a minute, I need to tell you something."

Magenta sat down at the kitchen table, "Vhat?"

Brad took hold of her hands, "I love you."

"I love you too."

"But you need to get over this."

"Vhat if I can't?"

"I know you can."

"It's OCD, not lung cancer. I'm perfectly fine."

"Not from what I saw, you could have died."

"THAT VAS ANEMIA!"

"NOT BEFORE! YOU CUT AN ARTERY, IT WAS A MIRACLE THAT YOU MADE IT!"

"SHUT UP! YOU CONTROLLING ASSHOLE!"

Hearing his polite, withdrawn girlfriend say this shocked Brad into silence. Magenta's eyes expanded until they looked like dinner plates.

Within seconds, Magenta had fled her own house.

* * *

><p>The Alvarado house was creepy when there were no Alvarados there. Brad found himself sitting in one place for about two hours. Trying to think of something to do, the place was insufferable if there was nobody to have sex with.<p>

Brad finally settled on a bunch more home movies, many of which consisted of Tafatia smacking the camera and swearing, only to be sent to her room. Brad eventually gave up on the movies. Nothing ever happened.

He went into the kitchen and scraped a meal together out of some of Tafatia's cheese and some of the other items in the fridge, he wound up making cucumber pizza. He took a bite and threw it out.

That's when the phone rang. It was an unknown caller,

"Alvarado residence?"

"Hello, sir, this is Dr. Alexandria Charleston, I work in the ER at Denton Public Hospital, is Brad Majors there?"

"Speaking..."

"Uh, there's a woman here who listed you as her emergency contact, Magenta Alvarado?"

...

Brad arrived in the ER within minutes, a tall woman ran over to him,

"Brad Majors?"

"Where is she? What happened? Did she collapse? She's anemic, it happens-"

"She's in our orthopedics department, we're trying to fix her dislocated shoulder-"

"My God, what happened?"

"She was attacked."

"BY WHO?"

"Unfortunately, we don't know that yet, but we suspect it happened when she was alone. Luckily, she was able to call an ambulance before she blacked out-"

A loud, Magenta-ish scream came from behind a door,

"Is that her in there?"

"Yes, just a moment, sir, I think they fixed her shoulder."

Dr. Charleston scurried away through the door, Magenta was lying on a slab, covered in sweat as a doctor snapped her arm back into place. A nurse held her other hand, she screamed again as the doctor jerked her arm farther into place. Brad gently stroked her hair and she glanced at him,

"Brad, I- AH!"

"Ssh, ssh, you don't have to say anything..."

"Miss Alvarado, you're almost done, okay?"

"Oka-AAGH!"

"Can you feel this?" Magenta nodded, "Okay, that's good, we can stop now."

"Vhat about my leg?"

"It's broken, you'll need a cast, but you can go home today, okay?"

Magenta nodded, "Vhat about my shoulder?"

"You'll need a sling."

"Oh God..." Magenta sighed, Brad gently stroked her cheek,

"Miss Alvarado, can you describe to me what happened, please?"

"...They... they took all my money, but not my phone..."

"Can you describe what they looked like?"

"I don't remember, I-" Magenta paused, gently touching a gash on her face, then proceeding to dig her nails into her other cheek.

"What's she doing?" a nurse whispered to Brad,

"She'll stop eventually."

"It's just that, she's causing more damage-"

"Let it. _Go._" Brad warned. The nurse backed off. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>Arden found Brad waiting in the living room after she left Magenta's room,<p>

"How is she?"

"She's sleeping now. But... I think you need to go home."

"Arden, really, it's fine, I don't need to be anywhere-"

"No, Brad. I think it's best you go home. Now."

"It's fine, Arden, I want to be here when she wakes up-"

"Brad, you're a nice kid, I like you a lot and I know my daughter does, really does, but I think it's best that you leave. I need to give you a break from taking care of _my_ child." Arden glared deeply into Brad's eyes, "Please. Just give me one night."

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Brad pulled into his parents' driveway half an hour later. The lights were on, his parents probably had company over as usual, from the looks of the cars in the driveway, cousins this time. He knocked on the door and his mother answered,

"Brad! You're back! Where have you been all this time, you said you were going to Louisiana with Aunt Lindsay, why would you..."

"I was never in Louisiana, I've been living with Magenta."

"Oh... that young lady... you've been dating?"

"Yes, I think you remember her."

"Oh..." Suzanne Majors squeaked, "Come, Brad, let's go inside."

Suzanne dragged Brad through the flock of Majorses into a bedroom.

"If this is another speech about Janet-"

"Brad, it's gone too far, I mean, it's fine for you to date nice girls, but not her."

"Why?"

"Well... To put it bluntly, I don't like her, she won't stop miscarrying, she cuts herself, she wears too much makeup, she looks like a washed-up prostitute-"

"Okay, she's only 20."

"Well, she's probably been in the business for a long time."

Brad's brother Steve opened the door.

"What're y'all screechin' about in here?"

"YOUR BROTHER AND HIS CRAZY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Oh yeah, she's so weird, her _eyes_ face two different ways, like some kind of animal..."

"Shut up, Steve."

"He's right, though, Brad."

"Don't say that, Mother."

"Listen to me, Brad Majors, you need to break up with that woman, she's nothing but trouble."

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HER!"

"Brad, ow, you loosened my filling."

"Oh, Stevie, go ask your daddy for dessert."

"Okey-doke, mommy."

"You're turning that kid into a baby."

"He's 15, he is a baby."

* * *

><p>In the Alvarado driveway at 8:30 pm, Brad found himself staring into space, the light in Magenta's room was on, the curtain was drawn across her window, one pane was ajar, probably to let in a single stream of winter air. Brad knew he couldn't get out of the car, Arden had probably planted land mines in the ground to keep him from accessing her daughter. He groped for his phone in the backseat, upon finding it, he dialed her number,<p>

"Arden Alvarado."

"Where's Magenta?"

"Brad, why are you calling here?"

"Just tell me she's okay."

"She's fine, she's asleep, and she's going to call you in the morning."

"I don't know if I can wait that long."

"You know what, Brad, sleep in your car, I can see you parked outside, so you can be here nice and early tomorrow."


	17. Chapter 17

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES! Magenta is badly injured in an accident. Who will find her? Brad? You got it, y'all. And in this one, Magenta kind of hates Brad at first but eventually warms up to him like in IWMTFF.**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

Brad woke up at 5 in the morning in his car.

"How the hell did- Oh. Right." The memory of the past night finally began to flood back in Brad's mind as he saw the Alvarado house through the windshield of his car. He thought about Magenta and Arden, and how much his family hated them. _Hated_. Emphasis on _hate_. Brad could actually see Magenta from his car. She was asleep. Or at least her eyes were closed. And Gia was walking around next to her.

_How did this even start...?_ Brad thought to himself. _It was... because the castle had so many windows... and the elevator broke... And she was so beautiful with all those cuts and bruises._

Brad sat still, screwing around with the mirrors in his car, his car smelled like a Drive-Thru, it was disgusting. The mirrors were all in weird positions, the side-view mirror on the passenger side was tilted back far enough to incinerate birds out of the sky, the driver's side mirror was facing the ground and the rear view mirror was cracked after a night of Steve's reckless driving. The passenger seat was covered in dried blood.

Brad groped in the backseat for the spray-bottle of bleach he kept in case of emergency, tearing the cap off and dumping it onto the seat. A big white stain was better than one from a miscarriage.

As the smell of bleach and fast food became pervasive, Brad got out of the car and stumbled into the cold early morning air, it was still a little dark, luckily, as March approached, snow melted and the cold wasn't unbearable.

Going around the back, Brad could make out the slight sound of a vacuum, Gia skittered out onto the back porch,

"Hey, kitty-kitty-k-"

"SSSSSS!"

"Shit, you're a little spazz, aren't you?"

Gia skipped away and Brad looked into a window, he saw a blonde braid and a purple shirt and knocked on the window.

The person with the _bloodstained_ surgical mask on whipped around and screamed, Brad jumped back, and Arden pulled off the mask, opening the window,

"BRAD! WHAT THE FUCK? WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE THAT?"

"I COULD SAY THE SAME FOR YOU, IS THAT BLOOD ON YOUR MASK?"

"YOU IDIOT! IT'S V8, THE ONLY DRINK WE HAVE IN THIS GOD-FORSAKEN SHITBOX! You look like a hobo, where did you sleep?"

"My car..."

"Mm-hmm. You have a french fry in your hair. I'm not letting you within ten feet of my darling daughter until you shower. Get in here, use whatever you want."

Arden opened the door,

"Well, I don't want to waste your water-"

"You don't want to be naked on the same floor as me, huh, Brad?"

"Well I guess-"

"At least brush your stupid hair."

"Okay." Brad picked up a hairbrush that was conveniently a few feet away. "Why're you cleaning?"

"Genta usually does it, I'm not about to make her do it right now, though, considering..." Arden's voice trailed off. "Just go upstairs."

Brad started up the stairs, Magenta's door was shut, he opened it as quietly as possible.

She was sleeping, holding tightly to her blankets with her working hand. Brad gently kissed her forehead and she opened her eyes,

"How'd you sleep last night? I'm so sorry I couldn't stay with you, I know you really needed me-"

"It's fine, it's okay- You smell like your car."

"Yeah, I slept there last night. In the driveway."

"My mother kicked you out, didn't she?" Brad nodded, "I don't know if I can take another second in here. It's too qviet. And it gets too hot."

"I can bring you downstairs if you want..."

"Maybe later. I'm still tired..."

"Do you want me to stay?" Magenta nodded and Brad laid down next to her.

...

After Magenta was asleep, Brad looked through her nightstand. All that was there was nail polish, magazines, the occasional article of makeup and a few earrings.

Then he saw the paper.

_Dear Mommy, Daddy, Rayne, Delia, Tafatia, Domenic, Aidan, Paris and Idina,_

_It's been thirteen years, and that's all it will be, I'm sorry if you wanted me to stay, but I can't. A new planet and a new home won't fix me, I now there's something wrong, I've known since we went to the doctor and he told you. I have to go, I'll always remember you, when I go back to God, Mommy, you said God only takes the best, I think this is an opportunity for me to be the best for once. And not be here anymore. So I'm going to take that chance. Goodbye, I love you all. _

There was one more, under that one, written at age 15, another at eighteen. All letters to her family. All centered around one key event.

Magenta had attempted suicide three times.

In seconds she was waking up. Brad scattered the notes roughly as she sat up,

"Baby, vhat are you reading...?"

Brad was silent, he turned around and looked Magenta over, she was smiling,

"...Why would you do this?"

"Do vhat?"

"You wrote these... letters... You attempted suicide. Why would you do this?"

Magenta froze, "You read... you read the- Vhy vould you- I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT! YOU JUST-" Magenta's eyes began to fill with tears, Brad sat next to her and pulled her against his chest,

"It's okay, it's fine..."

"No it's not..." Magenta sobbed harder and Brad rested her head in his lap, "My hematologist called last night, she said I have... aplastic anemia, I need a bone marrow transplant and more medication... Because you can die from this. The prognosis is 5 to 10 years vith the medication and the transplant."

Brad's voice cracked, "5 to 10?"

"...I'm sorry, baby, but I'll- I'll be fine, I promise, not everyvone dies from this-" Brad broke down, within seconds he felt tears streaming down his face, everything that was wrong came rushing back. Magenta sat up and pulled his face into her shoulder, "I'm sorry, it's okay, I promise, I von't die, okay?"

Brad leaned back,"No, you promise me to much. I promise I won't _let you_ die, okay?"

Magenta's eyes became glassy with tears, "I love you so much... you could have your choice of vomen, of anyvone, and you settled for me, I'm just a vorthless, used-up basket-case and you know it."

Brad pulled Magenta closer and closed his eyes. Gently dragging his hands through her hair, trying harder than ever to focus on the promise he'd made her. To not let her die.


	18. Chapter 18

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

One month later.

"Hello, Alvarado residence."

"Arden Alvarado?"

"Yes, who's calling?"

"This is Neely Pritt, from DTV studios."

"Uh... Great, why are you calling?"

"Well, we'd like to film a documentary on your youngest daughter, uh, Magenta."

* * *

><p>"Okay, who ratted us out? Spill it, bitches, I'm onto y'all." Arden snapped at her family, all except Magenta and Brad, and Neely Pritt, who were assembled in the living room. Rayne and Tafatia were attacking each other's mouths. "Well, you know what, it doesn't matter, we're not going to let people come in here and film us. Our family's problems are nobody's business but our own."<p>

"Mrs Alvarado, our reasons for doing this had nothing to do with your family's problems, we would just like to acknowledge the fact that Magenta has lived for twenty years with a number of untreated mental illnesses-"

"MY DAUGHTER IS NOT YOUR CHARITY CASE! WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL HER WHEN SHE AND BRAD COME HOME TO FIND YOU IN OUR HOUSE? AND HOW DARE YOU REFER TO HER PROBLEMS AS UNTREATED, WE'VE TRIED EVERYTHING!"

"I'll say it again, the purpose of this documentary is to acknowledge the fact that your daughter is a functional, successful adult-"

"Yeah, but that's the problem, she's really not." Tafatia interjected,

"Exactly, the kid's a damn basket-case." Cassius added. "It's insulting to refer to my child as functional or successful."

"Mr Alvarado, with all due respect, I think it would actually be in your best interest to draw attention to the fact that this is happening."

Cassius was silent for a minute, "...What's your plan?"

Neely had just started to describe her idea when Magenta opened the front door, Brad followed her in,

"Fuck. Oh fuck."

"Uh... vhy are there so many people here?"

Brad tightened his grip on Magenta's hand, "Arden?"

Arden stood up, "Genta, honey, I have to talk to you alone."

* * *

><p>"Just remember, baby, this is the worst it's gonna get."<p>

"Vhat about vhen filming starts? Vhat am I supposed to do then?"

"I'll be here. You'll be fine, I promise."

Magenta buried her face deeper into Brad's chest. "I won't be. This is going to make everything vorse. The flashbacks, the cutting, the OCD... they get vorse vith stress... I can't do this."

"Your parents agreed that this would be the best thing for you, because it's important to realize that this is a problem that needs to be solved." Magenta inhaled heavily and Brad pulled her closer, "You need to promise me you'll try not to cut anymore. You can't control the flashbacks and the OCD but you can control the cutting and you need to try as hard as you can."

"Vhat if I can't..."

"I won't let you cut. Even if it means being glued to you 24/7, I won't let you put yourself in danger anymore."

"...I love you."

"I love you too. And I'm sorry. And I promise I'll do anything I need to to make this easier for you."

Magenta laid down, "My shoulder still hurts."

"I know. It's easy to see." Brad leaned over Magenta, gently brushing his lips against hers, within seconds, there was a camera crew in the room.

* * *

><p><em>In 1992, Cassius and Arden Alvarado were blessed with their eighth child, a beautiful baby girl who they named Magenta Lucine, she was a miracle, after Arden had been told it would be unlikely that Magenta would ever be born, she was speech-delayed until the age of two, now at the age of twenty, we are going to document a week in her life. <em>

_Cassius and Arden Alvarado own a home in Denton, Ohio, close to where their children live, Magenta and her boyfriend have been living with Arden and Cassius for the past while. _

_Arden: Well, the OCD symptoms started showing when Genta was about 7, after the first incident. See, Magenta was raped at age six. And, well, it did happen again on multiple occasions after that. It was too much for us to handle._

...

Brad was woken up by the sound of running on the main floor, Magenta was still asleep next to him. He turned on the light and sat up and she put a hand on his shoulder,

"Go back to sleep... it's the film crew, they vant to film us so you can do a voice-over later."

"Why would they want to film us _sleeping_?"

"It's dramatic, I guess, turn the light off."

Brad turned the lamp off and laid back down, he could see Magenta glancing around the room in the light coming from the window, he pulled her against his chest, he felt tearful breathing and jumped back, turning the light back on. Magenta's eyes were wide and sparkling.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing, Brad, go to sleep."

"You have to tell me."

"Just turn the light off. Ve're making a scene and the film crew vants us to do that." the door began to creak open, Magenta froze and hit the mattress, Brad glared at the camera crew,

"Get out of here!"

"Mr Majors, if you could just-"

"Don't you need to question one of Magenta's sisters?"

"We've done all her sisters, the weird blonde kid who's been fucking the chubby black-headed sister... and all but one of her brothers. Now that I think about it, the weird bl- yeah... you're the last person we need to interview."

"Do you have to do it right now?" Brad glanced next to him and saw Magenta's eyes widen,

"As soon as possible."

Brad reluctantly got out of bed, Neely was waiting in the hallway,

"We're going to film your interview in this hallway, so, we're rolling now, I guess we'll just edit this out, so, tell us about your relationship with Magenta and how it may be different than being in a relationship with a regular person."

"...Uh... I guess it's different... I mean, she's obviously not normal... but I love her as much as I would a normal person."

"Go into more detail." Neely whispered, "What do you think of her?"

"I love her. She means more to me than anyone else."

"BORING!" Neely whisper-screamed, "How have you had to modify your life to fit her obsessive-compulsive-"

"OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Brad started towards the bedroom and Neely hopped in front of him,

"Majors, finish the interview!"

"I don't want to talk about Magenta behind her back about her problems."

"You're pretty sexy when you get angry."

"Go to sleep like a human-" Neely cut Brad off as she kissed him.

The worst part of the night came when Neely pulled away and Brad saw Magenta standing in the hallway.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean she left?" said Neely, almost everyone in Alvarado house was gathered in the kitchen. A few siblings had left, now only Tafatia, Delia, Dominic, Aidan, Idina and Paris remained. Cassius had left to visit family in New Orleans.<p>

"I mean, she's gone." Tafatia replied,

"She usually doesn't actually leave the house." Brad countered. "She usually cuts in the basement."

"THIS IS TELEVISION GOLD!" Neely screamed, grabbing a microphone that had slid behind the couch, "And I didn't even script it!" Neely ran towards the basement stairs, the crew followed her,

"Sssssssshhhhhhit." Arden dragged the word out, following them and looking around the corner, she froze and walked back towards the living room, "Genta's not down there."

"What?"

"I mean, mom, you just glanced down the stairs, of course you didn't see her."

"No. Dominic. She is not down there."

A sudden tension began to fill the room.

"Where else would she go...?" Brad whispered, "She's only left once and she only got as far as Pine Road."

Tafatia covered her mouth, "That little bitch could be anywhere in Denton by now."

Within seconds, the Alvarado siblings had put their coats on and left the house with Neely and the film crew trailing behind.

* * *

><p>About 45 minutes later, Aidan burst into the house, his face was red,<p>

"Mom, you need to see this."

"What, you found her?"

"Yes, but you and Brad need to come NOW. It's important."

Brad and Arden followed Aidan down the front yard and into the back, in a small town like Denton, almost every house had a small wooded area behind it, the Alvarado house was no exception. After walking for a while, Brad heard Arden scream,

Delia's car was parked, but running. A long tube ran from the tailpipe into a window, it was taped shut and the car seemed to be full of white smoke.

Brad had heard of carbon monoxide poisoning as a form of suicide before, but he had never actually witnessed it. The Alvarado siblings were standing frozen around the car, screaming at each other, the DTV film crew, however, was _loving every second._

"OPEN A FUCKING DOOR!"

"THAT STUPID LITTLE BITCH LOCKED HERSELF IN!"

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL HER!"

Brad glanced beside him and saw Arden drop to her knees, as he was looking down, he saw a brick.

It was a regular brick, a hard, reddish rectangular prism. Brad picked it up, and with the amount of adrenaline in his body beginning to surge, he threw the brick at the windshield.

Everything fell silent as the brick smashed through the windshield, white smoke began to stream out of the gaping hole, Dominic grabbed the brick off of the dashboard and began to slam at the door, it fell open and a pale arm fell out of the door, Dominic dragged his sister out of the backseat, he dropped her limp body onto the ground, Delia turned white and threw up.

"Genta..." Arden squeaked,

"She's not taking deep breaths, mom, call 911."

Brad collapsed next to Magenta, her lips were blue and she smelled like gasoline,

"We don't have time for that, I'm driving her."

"WELL WE CAN'T TAKE MY CAR OBVIOUSLY!" Tafatia screamed,

"We can take my car." Brad offered,

"You know what, fine, someone carry Genta."

* * *

><p>"Brad, your car is fucking disgusting."<p>

"Excuse me, TAFATIA. In the event of an emergency-"

"You know what, I realize that it's an emergency and that my baby sister is in the ICU, and I-" Tafatia started sobbing, she started to run down the hall and threw the door to Magenta's room open, Brad followed her at a safe distance, once he reached the door, Tafatia jumped right out,

"DTV is in there."

"What?"

"THOSE DTV BITCHES ARE IN THERE."

"Can you get a gun or something?"

"I'll see if I can get them out."

Tafatia went into the room, as soon as she went in the remaining Alvarado siblings left the room, Brad snuck in, the DTV crew was still there, Magenta was still unconscious but in better condition and Arden was staring into space with tears running down her face, the DTV crew began to close in and Neely provided a play-by-play,

"After a devastating suicide attempt, Magenta is-"

"GET OUT!" Arden suddenly screamed, taking off her stiletto heel and tossing it at Neely's head, the camera crew began to inch out of the room, Magenta's eyes started to open, "Kittycat..." Arden squeaked, falling across Magenta's body, Magenta inhaled sharply, her breath caught and she choked, Arden placed an oxygen mask over her daughter's face, "You'll be fine now, just don't ever do anything like that again." Arden glanced at Brad, she stood up, "I'll leave y'all alone."

Arden left. Magenta just looked down and didn't say anything.

"You're gonna have to say something eventually." Brad whispered, "You need to say something. You know I love you and that's why I need you to say something."

Magenta's eyes filled with tears and she took off the oxygen mask, "I don't vant to."

"You never do. I don't want to force you but you need to tell me why-"

"I'm not good enough for you." she breathed, "You kissed her, you don't vant me, she's prettier, she doesn't have the same problems as me-"

"Is this because of what happened last night?" Magenta nodded, "I didn't kiss her. She kissed me."

"You don't deserve my problems-"

"You attempted suicide. You didn't even leave a fucking note or anything, I may have never found you, your family might have never found you, I don't know how you can accept that."

"I don't vant to be here anymore-"

"I need to make you want to."

"I know you vant to, and you did for a vhile, then it got vorse and I couldn't handle it anymore, and then you kissed her and it reminded me that nothing made me happy like you did and that you didn't vant me and everything hurt more."

"You need to tell me if you ever want to do this again."

Magenta shook her head, "I can't-"

"You have to. Or else you actually will die."

"VHAT IF THAT'S VHAT I VANT?!"

"You need to stay. People want you to stay."

"No they don't. If they did, they'd tell me that."

"I thought I made it clear enough."

Magenta didn't say anything. Brad could feel tears stinging his eyes, he dug his nails into his palms to keep from slapping her. Brad actually felt himself almost hating Magenta for what she'd done. Hating himself even more for making her want to do it. He knew he would never watch DTV again. Even if there was nothing else on.

"If you vant to leave you can. I'm sorry-"

"Just stop." Brad could feel tears streaming out of his control, "Bottom line is, you need help."

"I don't vant help. You know I don't."

"And I love you too much to not make you get help. It's the only way you'll get better."

"I can't talk to anyvone."

"YOU CAN TALK TO ME."

"But you alvays make such a big deal out it."

Brad glanced down, finally moving closer to Magenta and gently kissing her forehead, "I know." He slid an arm under her shoulders and kissed her again. "Tell me what I can do for you."

"Uh... first you can-"

"Yeah?"

"You can get off my IV."

Brad sat up quickly, "Seriously though, I need to know."

Magenta smiled a little, "Just don't leave. Whenever you're with me I feel better-" Magenta coughed, Brad placed the oxygen mask over her face and laid down next to her, away from her IV.

"I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

Magenta leaned her head against Brad's shoulder. Everything was starting to feel normal when suddenly Neely swung the door open.


	19. Chapter 19

**Twisted Steel  
>Don't own nuttin'!<br>****Summary- THIS IS A STAND-ALONE SERIES!**

* * *

><p>Third Person.<p>

"She'd tried it before, you know." Tafatia confessed, taking her cigarette out of her mouth, she and Brad were standing on the roof of the hospital. "My mom actually convinced herself she did once. She didn't go into Genta's room for weeks, it was like she wasn't even there."

"That's awful."

"It finally ended when Magenta stood on the kitchen table and held a knife against her chest that my mom finally acknowledged her. Like, she stood there screaming at our mother with this steak knife on her chest. It was really a wake-up call. So we took Genta to the psychiatrist the next day and it turned out she had severe seasonal affective depression and she needed light therapy. It gave her really bad headaches and she started having seizures."

"That's horrible!"

"It made everything worse." Tafatia inhaled off her cigarette, "You're lucky you got her this year, and at the end of the winter."

"Can I help at all?"

"Just try not to set her off. Keep things in pairs, talk quietly, if her eyes get all wide, don't touch her unless she's hurting herself. And try not to talk about the OCD, she'll just deny it. And if you replace w with v like she does, she'll stop talking altogether. I did it once. It's because it's something she couldn't control." Tafatia ground her cigarette out and lit another one, then another, she gave it to Brad,

"I don't smoke."

"If you're gonna be in this relationship with my sister, you're gonna have to start." Brad inhaled, it was like licking a barbecue but it was nice. "She used to burn her arms. With a lighter. It was scary."

"Burn?"

"Yeah, when we told her we'd be watching if she cut again. So she burned her arms and said the burns were bruises from gym class." Tafatia spat off the roof into the light Denton traffic. "'Till they started to blister." She horked again, Brad made a face,

"You are effing disgusting."

"And you are so uptight that if I stuck a lump of coal up your ass in two weeks I'd have a goddamn diamond."

Brad stared at Tafatia for a second, "How did you come up with that?"

"Once you live with Genta for a while you kind of lose it a little. I'd say you've got a few weeks left."

"Is it really that impossible?"

"Think of it this way," Tafatia turned to face Brad, "After about a year and a half, you start to kind of... you know... start... thinking like her... You get paranoid, emotional over just about anything, and it makes her symptoms worse if they start to rub off on other people. It's weird, I don't even know..." Tafatia inhaled deeply, Brad watched and did the same, but choked on a cloud of smoke and coughed loudly, Tafatia started to laugh her ass off,

"It's not funny..."

"Yes it is! Maybe you're just not good at this..."

"I don't think so. When can we go back in there?"

"When Genta's psych consult is over. So, like half an hour."

"Do those consults actually help?"

"I don't know, she's had a few before. She doesn't listen though. She never listens to ANYONE."

"Maybe she just can't."

"What?"

"She doesn't listen to me. If she did, we wouldn't be here."

Tafatia smiled, "Finally."

"What?"

"You're finally badmouthing Genta a little. You finally stopped doing that thing you do."

"What thing?"

"You know, that... sensitive-new-age-guy thing. It's annoying. Thank God, you finally acknowledged the fact that Genta is impossible to live with."

"She's not impossible, it's just stressful. She's... I love her more than anyone but there's so much wrong with her. It's different. But I love her. She's the most wonderful person I've ever met in my life, and she's fucking gorgeous-"

"You're doing it again."

"Okay, what- I don't know what you want me to say."

"Well... you know what your problem is?"

"What is it now, Tafatia."

"You love Genta too much. It's irritating."

"Wouldn't you want her to be with someone who can fix her?"

"Maybe you're just making her too happy?"

"Isn't that-"

"The problem is, you're making her feel like she can do this and it's fine. Like she can cut, and not talk about this-"

"Are you a therapist?"

"No, I'm Genta's sister-"

Tafatia was cut off as Arden came onto the roof,

"Hey, Taf, gimme a smoke."

"Are you high?"

"No. I'm a mother, give me a cigarette, _if you please_. What about you, Brad, you look like Genta's got you driven right up the wall."

"I think I need to go see her."

"I don't know about that. She's a wreck. I think she'll be okay soon though, she just needs space for now though."

"There aren't any meds where she is, right?"

"Yeah, they're watching her closely, she doesn't have access to anything remotely dangerous and I don't think it's possible to hang oneself with an IV-" Arden paused, "Brad, you... have you been smoking?"

"Yeah. Tafatia made me."

"LIES!"

"PEER PRESSURE!"

"Y'all are both kids."

...

Brad went into Magenta's room after about half an hour, her laptop was sitting on her lap and she was staring blankly at the screen, she glanced at him and closed it.

"Hi." she whispered, "Vhere vere you?"

"Tafatia made me smoke."

"She used to make me do that." Magenta laughed a little,

"How was the psych consult?"

"I don't know. I've had a few of them before. This vone vas different though." Magenta looked down, "It seemed veird, everything does. I don't know vhy." Brad didn't say anything, "But something happened last night."

"What was it? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Remember... vhen I had that flashback... from vhen I vas eleven?"

"Sadly."

"Vell... Demetrius came to the hospital. He vas here."

Brad jumped up, "WHAT?"

"He apologized-"

"Where is he?!" Brad almost screamed.

"...the cafeteria... Vith his girlfriend."

Brad opened the door, "I'll be back soon."

...

Brad could somehow tell that Demetrius and his girlfriend were Transylvanians. They were both pale with pitch black hair and grey eyes. Before he knew it, he was standing over their table,

"Are you Demetrius?"

"Uh, yes. Who... are you?"

"I'm Brad Majors, I'm Magenta's fiancee."

"Magenta Alvarado? I didn't know she was dating again. She's a little fucked-up, as you can tell."

"Don't think I don't know who you are. You ruined her."

"I'm sorry, what?" Demetrius said loudly, standing up, Brad began to sweat and within seconds had punched Demetrius full in the face.

The cafeteria fell silent. Demetrius glared back at him,

"It's sick that you would do something like that to her."

"Excuse me, what did she say?"

"You're disgusting. Do you realize what you did to her?"

"Listen, you tell that little bitch-" Demetrius's girlfriend stood up,

"Excuse me, who's Magenta."

"My fiancee. He raped her when she was 11."

"Demetrius!?"

"Shut up, I didn't rape her."

"She has flashbacks. You'll never have to sit there while she's literally losing touch with reality-"

"She looks fine."

"You saw her? Do you realize why she's here? She attempted suicide." Brad began to walk away, and a doctor cornered him,

"Are you Mr Majors?"

"Okay, that back there was personal."

"No, I understand, but, uh, there's something I think you should know."

"What, what is it?"

"Uh, it's about Magenta."

"What happened, is she okay?"

"Yes. She's more than okay. I'm a grandmother, I know the signs, plus she had a test run, she's pregnant."

"Oh my god..." The doctor smiled, "No, you don't understand, she's lost every baby she's ever been pregnant with. She has PTSD, she's going to freak out-"

"Mr Majors, there's something else you need to know, she needs a bone marrow transplant for aplastic anemia. This would ultimately help get rid of the disease, and we'd send her home for a few weeks to give her a while just to feel normal and until we have a donor."

"I'll give her-"

"Your blood types would need to be compatible, her mother has already volunteered, so have two of her older sisters. We want her to go home though. We'll be releasing her today."

It was the one moment in Brad's life where he was honest-to-God terrified.


End file.
